This invention relates to holding a large bucket or can containing liquid or other relatively viscous liquid materials against rotational or other movement during the time that the liquid contents are mixed. For example, it is common for construction workers to use paint, drywall “mud”, or other coating or sealing materials, such as grout, stucco, thin-set, mortar, wallpaper paste, cement, or other relatively viscous liquid materials. Such materials are often obtained in powder or concentrated liquid form, or in a form which tends to separate during shipping/storage, and the person applying such materials typically mixes the material (possibly also adding water or another secondary material to the original material) just before applying the material to the desired surface. Such mixing may be performed manually with a stick-type stirrer of some sort. Alternatively, mixing may be performed with a powered mixing device, which has a motor-driven impeller that is inserted in the container for mixing purposes. For example, a long propeller-tipped rod (an “auger”) may be attached to an industrial drill and inserted into the bucket to mix the material.
Standard-sized (approximately five-gallon capacity) plastic “construction buckets” are used pervasively throughout the home improvement and construction industry and are conveniently sized for mixing a batch of most construction materials of this type. In order to mix the material, the bucket is placed upon a surface, such as the ground or a suitable floor surface, and held manually while the contents are mixed to a satisfactory consistency.
However, one problem encountered in this conventional procedure is that the mixing normally causes a circular movement of the material, induced by rotation of the mixing device. The circular movement of the relatively viscous material produces forces, which often cause the bucket to rotate or to otherwise move relative to the user. This rotational (or other) movement may interfere with the mixing and also may cause spilling or splashing of the material during the mixing procedure. To prevent this, the user generally will rigidly hold the bucket between his or her feet or lower legs to prevent the bucket from spinning as the material is mixed. Holding the bucket in this manner may cause injury, lower back and leg fatigue, and/or loss of balance by the user because of the mixing forces transmitted through the material and bucket to his or her legs, as well as because of the awkward position in which he or she must stand to maintain control over the mixing operation.